Explaining the importance of early childhood – how can research help us?
Have you ever had a comment along the lines of, “They’re only little, they can start learning when they get to school.” We know how important early childhood is for your child’s future learning, wellbeing, and health, and you’ve probably chosen the app because you know too! But not everyone realises just how important these early years are, and that can lead to some interesting conversations.
We thought we’d look at what the Royal Foundation for Early Childhood found about public attitudes in the United Kingdom this year. The brilliant news is that more people than last year recognise how important early childhood is, but there is still a way to go!
Book review – Parenting for Humans by Dr Emma Svanberg
Parenting for Humans is not, like many parenting books, about your child. Instead, it’s described as ‘a book for you as a parent’. It helps you to see that whatever you know or have read, you bring your emotions and experiences to your parenting.
Dr Emma Svanberg (aka the Mumologist), is an award-winning clinical psychologist, who works with parents, parents-to-be and professionals focusing on how to understand yourself so you can live a more fulfilling life.
Parenting for humans podcast special with Dr Emma Svanberg (the Mumologist)
“Becoming a parent provides us with this unique opportunity to really get to know ourselves.”
In this week’s podcast, Alistair and Jennie are joined by Dr Emma Svanberg (the Mumologist), clinical psychologist and author of Parenting for Humans. Listen in on their conversations to find out how to parent the child you have as the person you are.
Get 30% off with Bloomsbury Books
For a long time, we have loved Molly Potter’s books because they dive right into talking about big subjects – like worries, feelings and friendships – in a way that is both thoughtful and fun. They give lots of information, with colourful illustrations, to help both you and your child approach new or tricky emotions with confidence.
These brilliant books are being relaunched this summer as part of Bloomsbury Publishing’s Let’s Talk series – and you can get 30% off all the books in the series (as well as others on their site) from the 6th – 16th July 2023.
What does tennis have to do with your child's development?
Well, strictly speaking, not very much actually. But there is one phrase that’s important for both a successful game of tennis and developing children’s social, cognitive and communication skills – ‘serve and return’.
Just like in tennis, when we talk about serve and return interactions in child development we are talking about two people passing something back and forth – and paying attention to make sure it keeps moving for as long as possible.
Mastering skills and your mental load
You have a lot to think about, remember and decide on as a parent - we want mastering skills to be the easiest (and most exciting) part of that mental load.
By mastering the skills your child can do, you keep the My First Five Years app completely relevant for them, and save yourself from having to spend time searching for ideas to help them learn - it will all be here for you ready to go!
All about... reading with babies
It can seem strange to read to a baby. You might think, “My baby can’t understand what I am saying”, “They don't know what the words mean,” or “They can’t hold a book.” Surely reading is for when they get a little bit older?
Reading with babies is sometimes awkward, but it is also really valuable. If we think about how a baby first learns, they do this by watching what is happening around them. They start by reading people’s faces, trying to work out what facial expressions mean, along with working out tones of voice.
Reading to your child during their first five years – what does research tell us?
It can feel strange reading books to your newborn baby, and although 95% of parents in a recent survey could see reading was important – just 77% started reading to their child before they were one, and 28% said they don’t find reading to their child easy.[1]
In this week’s research article, we’re going to look at the benefits of reading to your child whatever their age and give you some ideas for sharing stories together.
New podcast out today – Jennie and Alistair talk about walking
“Often walking doesn’t have anything to do with legs and feet, walking really starts with their brain and their core.”
This week, you’ll hear why no two children share the same journey to walking, where crawling fits in, whether it’s possible to walk too soon and which are the best type of shoes for new walkers, as well as five hacks to encourage your child to walk.
It’s festival season! How to hold your very own family fest at home...
Summer festivals are in full swing! This might mean your family is getting ready to attend one (or more) together... or it might mean you’re watching on with a mixture of awe and horror at the idea of camping at a noisy festival with the whole family!
The good news is that your child can benefit from the joy of a festival wherever you are. We’ve gathered some ideas for making the most of music and movement to plan your very own festival, and research shows it’s good for everyone to join in.
